Photo Students (Digitally) Capture 'Beautiful Creatures' at Academy of Natural Sciences
University Photography students enrolled in adjunct faculty member Barbara Proud's Professional Practices in Photography course this past spring captured images of the most interesting of the more than 100 creatures inhabiting the Florence R. Foerderer Live Animal Center at the Academy of Natural Sciences for the show "Beautiful Creatures." A striped skunk, white-nosed coati, giant spiny stick-insect, rosy-haired tarantula, Western hognose snake, barn owl, moluccan cockatoo and long-tailed chinchilla are among the 15 animals captured in the black and white images on display at the Academy's Art of Science Gallery through January 24. Read more.

Multimedia Faculty Member Jeremy Beaudry Serves as Curator of Manifesta 8, the European Biennial of Contemporary ArtUniversity Multimedia Assistant Professor Jeremy Beaudry (below) is serving as an associate curator for Manifesta 8, the European Biennial of Contemporary Art. Manifesta aims to experiment with innovative curatorial models and did not consider any individual art professionals for curator, forming three curatorial teams. Beaudry and Bassam El Baroni, artistic manager of Egypt's Alexandria Contemporary Arts Forum (ACAF), form one of those curatorial collectives assembling the show. Chamber of Secrets, an arts collaborative based in Denmark and the Middle East, and tranzit.org, a network of autonomous art associations throughout eastern Europe, complete the curatorial triumvirate. Beaudry and El Baroni gave a presentation recently to the University community about their experience and curatorial methodology, as well as the history of the Manifesta Biennial. Beaudry served as an artist-in-residence at the ACAF in January 2008 for "Cleotronica," a festival for media, art and socio-culture. Manifesta 8, which has changed its artistic parameters and geographic locations every two years since it launched in 1996, opens in the Murcia region of Spain on October 1, 2010.

Communication Major Jessica Metzger Interns at the Onion News NetworkCommunication senior Jessica Metzger interned recently with the Onion News Network (ONN), the satirical, self-proclaimed "most popular 24-hour cable news network in America." A native Philadelphian, Metzger used her background in digital video production to acquire material to be integrated into daily videos posted to the Web. One "story" she worked on was how cigarette smoking can cause homosexuality. Sometimes the video she came up with worked for a piece; sometimes it didn't, which Metzger called "frustrating at times, but rewarding." Launched in 2007 from its New York City headquarters, the ONN is an offshoot of the farcical newspaper The Onion and is seen by over 4 million unique users every month who access the videos via various Internet channels. It reaches more than 100 million households nationwide. Globally, the Onion's network of branded channels and services reaches 811 countries in 152 languages. In addition to its flagship news show, mock congressional hearings and fictional White House press conferences, the digital network includes "Today Now," a parody of morning news programs, and "In the Know," a satiric take on pundit roundtable shows.

College of Performing Arts Presents 'In Concert: A Shared Concert of Dance, Music and Theater Arts'The College of Performing Arts collaboration performance will feature a handful of numbers showcasing the breadth and depth of the talents of its students and faculty. Highlights of the annual performance include a re-choreographed presentation of Balanchine's 1936 ballet "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue" by Dance adjunct associate professor Scott Jovovich, and tap and flamenco numbers choreographed by master lecturer Robert Burden and Dance senior lecturer Anna Rubio, respectively. The Brind School of Theater Arts will present an encore performance of "You're Gonna Love Tomorrow"/"Love Will See Us Through" from its October concert staging of Stephen Sondheim's "Follies"; selections from the musical "George M," by the junior Musical Theater majors comprising the Broad Street Vaudevillians; and two skits in the style of commedia dell'arte. In addition to instrumental and vocal accompaniment on all of the performances, the School of Music will present performances by the Rumble, Salsa, Big Band and Transfusion instrumental ensembles and N'Zehn contemporary vocal ensemble.December 10, 7 p.m.December 12, 2 p.m. Merriam Theater